Tax Compliance: Respectful Treatment and Institutional Image

This study aims to analyze the effect of respectful treatment and institutional image on tax compliance. This study used a survey method of individual non-employee taxpayers at the Primary Tax Office (KPP) in the Regional Office of the DJP I, East Java, totaling 304 respondents. The data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The research findings showed that the strength of Crowding Theory and Trust Theory, and that the extrinsic intervention in the form of reward and punishment cannot always increase taxpayer compliance. Instead, a respectful approach and goodwill, ability and integrity of tax authorities in solving tax problems of taxpayers can increase tax compliance. This is supported by the results of the study that: 1) respectful treatment can improve institutional image; 2) respectful treatment can increase tax compliance; 3) institutional image can increase tax compliance. The implication of research results, respectful treatment of tax officers can be used to improve the image of the DJP and taxpayer compliance.

Health Crisis Measures and Standards for Fair Decision-Making: A Normative and Empirical-Based Account of the Interplay Between Science, Politics and Courts

This paper examines, in the light of the COVID-19 crisis, the room for judicial oversight of health crisis measures based on the public’s expectations of how governments should act in the interplay with experts. The paper explains how trust theory and procedural rationality review help to address concerns related to legitimacy and expertise. The paper argues that courts should distinguish between two stages. In the initial stage, fear as a driver for government support based on expertise justifies that the proportionality test is limited to the question of whether measures were based on virologist expert advice. In the next stage, people expect the government to take expert-informed decisions, but also require that the government takes into account societal needs. Procedural rationality review in this stage demands that courts examine whether the decision was based on an informed balance of rights and interests.

The influence of trust and relationship commitment to vloggers on viewers' purchase intention

PurposeThis study extends the commitment-trust theory from the perspective of relationship marketing and explores its effect on purchase intention under the moderation of trust by investigating vloggers' relationship marketing in the context of social media.Design/methodology/approachThe study employs a survey investigation with online questionnaires in China, and the hypotheses were tested using multiple regression analyses, with 319 valid consumer responses.FindingsThe findings reveal that the extended commitment-trust theory is applicable in the context of social media. Perceived relationship commitment, expertise, physical attractiveness, social attractiveness and self-disclosure play a significant role in predicting purchase intention. Relationship commitment proves to be a mediator between the antecedents and purchase intention. Trust shows a moderating effect on the antecedents and relationship commitment.Originality/valueThe study provides evidence of the importance of the above-mentioned antecedents in influencing viewers' relationship commitment to vloggers in the context of social media. The results contribute to the development of the commitment-trust theory and an understanding of the theory's underlying mechanisms. The result also provides further evidence of the effect of trust on relationship commitment.

Examining consumer participation on brand microblogs in China: perspectives from elaboration likelihood model, commitment–trust theory and social presence

Purpose Brand microblogs have been adopted as a new approach to promote products or services and maintain relationships with consumers for companies, but literature on why consumers are willing to participate on these microblogs is still relatively limited. The purpose of this study is to examine factors affecting consumers’ participation on brand microblogs and then indicate the underlying mechanism of this process based on elaboration likelihood model (ELM), commitment–trust theory and social presence. Design/methodology/approach An online survey was conducted in China to investigate consumers who followed brand microblogs. A total of 380 valid responses were collected, and the data were analyzed by the partial least squares structural equation modeling to assess the proposed research model. Findings The findings show that argument quality and source credibility of a brand microblog are two important factors that enhance consumers’ community commitment and trust toward the microblog, which, in turn, promote their participation intention. In addition, social presence has a moderating effect on the relationship between trust toward brand microblog and participation. Originality/value This study extends the understanding regarding consumers’ information adoption processes in brand microblogs from both central and peripheral routes based on ELM. Besides, the role of trust in affecting consumers’ participation and community commitment in the context of brand microblog has been examined from a more detailed perspective. Finally, this paper better reveal the role of social presence in brand communities by focusing on its moderating effect on the relationship between commitment–trust and consumers’ participation. These findings can provide entrepreneurs with insights into strengthening consumers’ participation and operating their brand microblogs in the long-term.

User Loyalty Unbroken? Inflation of Trust in Digital Platforms

Societal challenges regarding digital platforms—from privacy concerns to fake news or hate speech—are often framed around a deficit model of trust: they result in an erosion of user trust, and a need for its restoration is identified. Our contribution challenges this deficit model by examining the function of trust in digital platforms as sociotechnical systems. Platforms provide the infrastructure for a smooth transmission of data between various actors (e.g., users, developers, advertisers). This has inclusive as well as limiting effects: it provides broad accessibility by hiding complexity behind simple interfaces. Despite this detachment from the complex back end, risks and uncertainties are largely transferred to the users, who are expected to make informed decisions when they agree to platforms’ terms and conditions. To be able to utilize platforms in everyday practices, users need to bridge uncertainties through trust. Trust fills the gap of lack of knowledge. Our contribution sheds light on trust dynamics by combining trust theory with empirical insights. We distinguish trust from distrust and familiarity and specify at whom and at what trust is directed. Distrust of platforms has not led to significant transformations in the market, which remains dominated by the same players. The platforms’ ecosystems heavily rely on trust in and by the users—for example, through the principle of informed consent. We identify an inflation of trust in the realm of digital platforms because trust is inherently risky due to its function of replacing knowledge. In contrast to the deficit model, we emphasize trust’s problem component and frame our suggestions to meet the connected challenges accordingly.

Chatbot for Online Customer Service

Chatbot has become popular in recent years due to the advancements in artificial intelligence and other underlying technologies. Likewise, increased internet interactivity and smarter mobile devices have specifically attracted more consumers to pursue superior and personalized customer service. The aim of this chapter was therefore to better understand the use of chatbots by online businesses to shed light on its effect on customer service satisfaction. The commitment trust theory served as the underlying theoretical foundation for the conceptual framework of this study. It explored the relationships among trust, commitment, service quality, and technology towards the use of chatbots. Subsequently, customer engagement gained has influenced the knowledge sharing and the referral to other customers. This chapter presented an integrative framework for predicting the use of chatbots to enhance customer bonding with firms. The main contribution was the list of antecedents needed to improve customer engagement in the implementation of chatbots.